They included Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of the nation's foremost environmental attorneys, who called the natural gas industry "just completely and utterly untrustworthy."

Mr. Kennedy was joined by attorneys and activists with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group for which he is senior attorney, Catskills Mountainkeeper and Riverkeeper, including actor Mark Ruffalo and former New York Rangers goalie Mike Richter.

The group gathered in the home of one resident among 14 in the township whose drinking water was found by state environmental regulators to have been contaminated with methane from natural gas drilling.

The group then took a tour of the concentrated area where more than 60 wells have been drilled.

The residents told stories about the persistence of methane contamination in their drinking water and inadequate solutions to remove or replace it. They also talked about spills on or around their properties and assurances they said the gas companies made and broke.

Mr. Kennedy, who believes natural gas is an important bridge fuel on the way to developing greener energy alternatives, said most of the problems caused by the industry are solvable, "but you need really tough oversight by the regulatory agencies" and for best practices to be required by law.

He referred to his work to restrict or clean up dirtier energy extraction processes, including a lawsuit he filed against BP for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He was driving back to New York after spending most of the day in Dimock in order to speak about the spill on CNN on Thursday night.

"I see the coal industry blowing up mountains, and I filed the first lawsuit in the Gulf," he said. "I'm saying, gas has got to be better than this."

Foremost among his concerns about the shale gas extraction process, he said, is the industrialization of landscapes where drilling occurs, like the hills and valleys of Dimock.

But there are models in other areas, including Arkansas, where well development is restricted to one pad per square mile in order to avoid unnecessary roads, pipelines and development, he said. Advances in horizontal drilling, where the drill bit turns and burrows laterally through the shale, have allowed companies to extract gas from up to seven miles underground from one well pad.

But he cautioned the Dimock residents that his experiences have taught him never to trust "any of these gas companies."

"They all seem to be pathological liars," he said. "You can make deals with them, and they're going to break the deals. You've seen that happen at the local level; I've seen it at the national level."

Victoria Switzer, the resident who hosted the meeting, said advances in the industry's technology and best practices are encouraging, but it will not change what she and her neighbors suffered because of laxer practices, some of which are still allowed by law.

"Why don't we stop them behaving this way?" she said.

Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com

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No history lessons were learned in NE PA!! We are still spending money cleaning up from the coal industry and the factories! We have some of the highest cancer and birth defect rates in the NATION! Wake up and understand that there is no such thing as clean energy, charge the natural gas companies for the real costs of harvesting the gas which include the cleanup and medical costs and you will either see them do the right thing or leave!!

Drilling can't be done safely at the moment. People need to realize that. Tom, it isn't a "hippie thing." I'm an old man who supports tough regulation of the industry because they're so sloppy. Look at the Gulf for God's sake. I'm not a hippie and I don't smoke pot. Tom, you sound like an idiot when you make those statements.

Its sad to see some here who are just shills for the behemoth oil and gas industry. They will not benefit at all from any of these corporations and more than likely will be victimized by them at some point. However, they take their orders from the right wing wackos that they watch and listen to and like a bunch of parrots, repeat their mantra, "Drill, Baby, Drill."

These people are also opposed to a severance tax that will help their communities repair the infrastructure damage that is being caused in the name of free enterprise.

There is a right way to do this, however the rape and pillaging of our natural resources in the name of greed will doom this area to a sequel of what happened here in the last century. I hope you folks are proud of what you're leaving to future generations.

RFK Jr.'s ambivalence on natural gas is bewildering. "A good bridge to the future?" (The bridge to nowhere.) Problems "solvable?" (Solve 'em!!) Yet, gas industry people are "pathological liars." How can he advocate for this technology knowing that gas companies cannot be trusted? RFK, Jr. We need you on our "No Drill, No Spill" team. Come side with the angels.

typical left wing environmental hysterics; one would expect no less from a "young" Kennedy who is on a mission to save the world.I wonder whether he cooks on a gas grill for cookouts or uses vital trees from the forests they are protecting.

Sean V there wouldn't be a problem in the Gulf if you damn Hippies wouldn't keep sending the drillers deeper and deeper into the gulf. Let them drill close to land where the water isn't so deep. Drill in Anwr Alaska also. Sorry I am a hippie hater. Smoke more dope and then maybe you will think the oil in the gulf looks cool.

In Penfield PA, there was a natural gas blowout similar to that of the oil blowout in the Gulf at the moment. It shot natural gas and poisonous water into the air and fell back to the ground for half a day. This area is going to be a polluted wasteland. Anything for a dime though, right?

How come the Times has no mention of this story. thats why I have to go to the Times Leader for coverage of any event.

I get gas reading some of these pro drilling post.All anyone wants is for the drilling to be done right.Is that too much to ask.Open your eyes and look at what's going on in this world.You can't trust anyone.Or as someone once said"Trust but verify"

Ok, what's that big lie again? Modern oil and gas drilling with its new technologies is safe and no threat to the environment or the inhabitants - human or otherwise.

Drill Baby Drill!

How bout making it a law that oil and gas executives - those dastardly, conniving, sons of the Darkside - must bring their families to live in the vacinity of the drilling sites. Want to bet they will be more careful then?

good news; having someone with clout and knowledge about environmental pollution and it's long-term ramifications--grateful to Robert Kennedy and the people of Dimock on Carter Road and nearby for letting the world see what gas-drilling is actually like and it's negative impacts on the earth.

Paula - absolutely disingenuous of you regarding water testing. Cities test their water regularly because they are legally responsible to do so to vouch for maintenance of the quality of the water supply. And the cost is spread out over many users, and though I can't say for sure, I'm reasonably sure that municipalities aren't testing for stray frack fluids - yet.

Water testing of private supplies has to be done at the individual homeowner's expense, and a serious expense it is, too - about $1000 a crack. How often would you like to be doing that?

And Tom, is that the best you can do? Because if it is, your arguments are toast. First, your writing is unclear, but I assume that when you say, "one well got messed up" you're referring to one gas well in Dimock? This isn't the case. Not only have there been problems with more than one well in Dimock alone, there have been problems with well across PA and the country.

Also, Tom, I don't use natural gas, or propane, or heating oil, or any other hydrocarbon to heat my house.

And I've never used marijuana in any form, "bowl" or whatever. You seem pretty familiar with the terminology, though.

Finally, Tom, I'm not a liberal. But last I knew, the need for clean water, clean air, peace of mind, and self-determination all transcended political and philosophical boundaries.

If you want to put forth a credible argument in favor of drilling, y'all had better stop hiding behind b.s. and stereotypes.

It is true that not everyone has problems in Dimock area and Chris I am very glad that your family does not. But how does that change the fact that there are problems in Dimock and in many other places in PA. It's a gamble and one that I would not take for my family. The problems can affect any of us, and not just the leaseholders. It is random, it may be you next time. Look at the problem today in the state forest. If this happened in Elk Lake at the school gas well, think of the kids and the danger. This is crazy. I know you will accuse me of being a NIMBY but what is the opposite of that? Too bad if it affects others because it's in my backyard and I am getting rich from it? And Paula are you actually that hardhearted about your neighbors? I know these folks, and to hear this from someone in my county makes me really sad. I thought this was a caring community but I am learning better.

Paula, I think Victoria Switzer is heroic. You should be kissing the ground she walks on because she's trying to make Dimock and the surrounding areas SAFER. I drive through Dimock twice a week and I pity the people that live next to those wells. I think drilling should go ahead when they get it right. That's certainly not now. I agree with another poster who said that the people of Dimock are guinea pigs for the gas industry. It's a disgrace. Look at the Louisiana disaster. I don't believe anything that BP says anymore.

Paula, you wrote: "You might find out the real reasons behind the problems if you met those involved."

I think it is at least as accurate to say that you, Paula, might find out the real reasons behind the problems if you were living with gas company shenanigans a few hundred feet from your home.

The problems in Dimock are not isolated! They have been happening across the country for years. And now, besides Dimock, PA has Hickory, and Clearville, and the Hedgehog Lane neighborhood in McKean County, and... and... - the list will continue to grow as long as PA continues to allow the gas company invasion.

In reply to Paula: I am extremely grateful to the people in Dimock, like Victoria Switzer, who have given so freely of their own time and energy to fight Cabot's excesses. Certainly, it is NOT reasonable to ask people to calmly and quietly live in homes that no longer have safe water supplies due to nearby gas drilling.

The gas and oil industry likes to shut up those with legitimate claims against the industry by giving them out-of-court settlements and requiring that they stop speaking to the media. This makes it extremely difficult to create regulations that protect the public. Instead of shooting the messengers, you should be asking why on earth Cabot cannot seem to clean up its act.

The people in Dimock who have spoken out against Cabot are brave, caring folks, and I admire them greatly.

As another poster noted, a blowout at a gas well in Clearfield County resulted in leaking gas and leaking frack fluid. Campers in a one-mile radius were evacuated. Fortunately, the gas did not ignite, but it might have ignited. What if this incident had occurred not in a state forest, but in a populated area? What if it had occurred next to a school?

We all know that accidents do not occur at every well or even at most wells, but no one can predict WHICH wells they will occur at. That is why it is utter folly to put these wells in populated areas. The Marcellus wells that have been drilled in PA are just the beginning--many thousands more are anticipated, and many, many people will find themselves living within a mile or less of a gas well.

As the BP incident demonstrates, worst-case scenarios cannot be ignored: they may happen rarely, but rarely is not the same as never.

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